Untitled

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3118, 14 February 1879, Page 2

It will be remembered that Mr J. 0. Firth, at the meetings of the Chamber of Commerce in Auckland lately, has taken some interest in the U.P.A. business, and communicated with the local bodies as to what could be done. At one of the last meetings he said that no answers had been received to his communicationi, which was scant encouragement to the Chamber to interfere in a matter with which they had no direct concern. Such a statement led people to infer that the local bodies here had been so discourteous as to disregard the communications of the Chairman Chamber Commerce, and the County Council, not wishing to have such an imputation fixed upon them, at once wrote to Mr Firth, and invited his attention to the replies they had sent. Mr Firth now makes the following explanation in yesterday's Herald: — " Sir, —In my remarks at the Chamber of Commerce on the stoppage of the Thames pumping operations, relative to the fact that no notice had been tiken of the committee's request by any of the parties concerned, I find that I inadvertently omitted to except the Thames County Council, the Chairman of that body having courteously sent the following telegrams, which were inadvertently regarded as replies to prior telegrams:— • Many thanks for kind t-legrams. Just leaving for Ohmemuri. Will reply on return.'—'Eegret financial position precludes Council from contributing toward maintenance of pump after end of month.' Pray insert this amende.' " We may now remind Mr Firth that of two telegrams Bent by him to the Borough one was answered at length by the Mayor, and the answer was actually read by himself at a meeting of the Chamber, as shown by reports in the Auckland papers. That telegram was a sort of ultimatum. If Mr Firth can have lost all recolleotioa of these answers through " inadvertence," he will be the better able to excuse the single inadvertence of the Borough Council in neglecting to send a reply to his necond telegram, as the answer must hare been of a similar tenour to that previously sent.